Mule cognition

Dr Britta Osthaus|

We carried out research at the Donkey Sanctuary in Devon and found that mules were smarter than horses or donkeys. Six donkeys, six horses and six mules took part in the research at the sanctuary in Sidmouth. Each animal was shown two food buckets marked with different symbols. To gain access to the food the animals had to pick the correct bucket. The mules were able to discriminate between more pairs of symbols than the other animals and were more consistent. The mules' performance was significantly better than that of either of the parent species and got faster over a period of time. Hopefully our findings will ensure that people change their attitudes towards mules, which frequently have a bad reputation because they often are mentally under-stimulated and therefore might turn against humans or become destructive. The increased intelligence in the mule is a result of hybrid vigour, where the best genes of the parent species mix and match to produce hybrids with superior traits. This is the first study to show that hybrid vigour is able to improve cognitive function, too.

Detour behaviour in dogs

Dr Britta Osthaus|

We set 50 dogs the task to run through a gap around a barrier towards a person for a treat. They could all manage that. However, after a few repeats (1, 2, 3 or 4) we changed the location of the gap to the opposite end. Most dogs went straight to where the gap used to be and looked rather puzzled. Some tried to jump over the barrier, or climb through it. Our results show that dogs are creatures of habit. This is very important to keep in mind when training a dog: never, ever let it repeat an error. They will stick with it and retraining will take ages.